accumulate more debt than every other president combined ahead of him. is it worse under obama stimulus, healthcare, does that have a big impact? >> i think it has. no question that his aagain da was to in a sense spend us out of recession and that didn't work and a lot of the money ended up being captured in washington august. if you look at the per capita average stimulus money washington, d.c. got nine times what the average american got outside of washington. >> sean: how does, washington, get 15% of all of the federal budget? >> that is the crisis we are in. the crisis is where you have a president or party of big government and the junior party s the party of little big government but you no party of limited government. what we have and you see this with the stimulus and the bailouts of the banks that everything s concentrated in washington now. the rest of the country has not pulled out of the recession. washington has the lowest unemployment and highest per cap income. >> sean: a real estate market that is the most robust in the country. they are doing fine. we are nonpartisan i

speaker of the house, john boehner saying that president obama told him we don't have a spending problem. really? former senator jim demint is here. if we have no spending problem, senator, why do we need to extend the debt ceiling? why do we need more money? >> greta, the president is running out of excuses. he can't blame the last administration because he is the last administration. president obama has spent more and created more debt than any president in history. yeast, we have the slowest recovery of any recovery in history. i spent last summer, going around my state, talking to small businesses, dozens of them. so it's very clear to me what's happening now. they were beginning to pull back because of the expected cost of obamacare, the dod-frank legislation, that was a federal takeover of our financial system is making it harder for businesses to get loans. you look at the expected tax increases, which businesses were trying to plan for, the uncertainty really goes back to the president's policies. it is not obstruction. i wish we had had more of it. the policies in place

obama said that to speaker boehner that we don't have a spending problem, even his own debt commission says, even after the economy recovers, federal spending is projected to increase faster than revenues, so the government will have to continue to borrow money to spend. that sounds like a spending problem. that may be a revenue problem, but we can i. dprelta, we have doubled spending in the last 10 years and revenue this is year will be at historic highs. you don't have to guess where the problem is. we are spending too much. we need to cut spending in a predictable way so we don't shake up the economy. the fact is, there have been no defense spending cuts yet -- >> not yet. >> and so for them to blame the -- the negative growth on that is certainly -- was a part of it as defense contractors began to pull back. but this started last summer. businesses all over the country beginning to pare back their plans. >> the insanity that nobody knew what their taxes were going to be. >> sure. >> this is the thing that i -- for the life of me, i can't understand how people in good con

that. >> dana: president obama's bill, the more of it is government spending. you can't expect the economy to be able to take care of itself and grow. just on government spending alone. >> eric: that is the word. "growth." if you just keep spending government money you are not creating growth. just creating fuel -- >> bob: what is wrong with the administration, then? let the cuts take place in defense and domestic spending. >> dana: that is the white house's idea in the first place. before we, go greg has his brush here. been on the whole table the whole time. such a big mouth. >> greg: here we are talking about msnbc and you are lying. this is your brush. >> dana: it is not my brush. this is the one they use for you to bring it out and do your hair. >> kimberly: you are like the fonz. >> greg: i'm going to msnbc. they will understand me there. >> dana: the first order of business for president obama back in 2009. >> the first executive order we are signing. guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now. now there is news on the administration's effort to close the terr

went into border security in 2012. that's over twice as much as we were spending in 2003. we know president obama has deported record numbers of folks. so how much tougher can we get on the border? we've seen immigration rates decrease. you know, instead of working harder just throwing more money at the issue, what the president is focusing on is let's be smarter about it. let's focus on the technology to track illegal immigrants who are already here. let's think about using technology on the border. so the president can make a very strong case. i'm not too worried about that. i think that's the republican senators trying to look tough for their own party. >> now, richard, let me share this with you. that kind of struck me. a conservative latino group released a memo with some advice to republicans on how to talk about the issue. and in it they admonished them don't use phrases like this. don't use send them all back. elect fence. anchor baby. illegals. reagan. because he gave citizenship to immigrants back in the 1980s. i mean, it's almost like we know you guys aren't really seri

. at least president obama and senator landrieu put the straw man up there, apparently, fox news is their straw man. >> they're very different arguments. mary landrieu's argument, with all due respect is nuts. the idea that discretionary spending's not too high, the idea that this government's not too big, the idea that the deficit isn't too large, this is not a fox news problem, this is a wash politician problem. i think they can try to find somebody tolls blame all they want to. she has to go back home and explain why she's failing to do her job. by the way, in the senate, which is not passed a budget for 3 years. >> you know what i don't understand is both the president calling out fox and senator landrieu calling out fox. and fox has the most viewers and it's the number-1 cable news, it's fully universed in a 300-million-plus country. but we have three or four million viewers a night at a given time. why -- why are they so terrified that they keep bringing up fox news? what is so -- what is the impact on them? >> i think that they are so used to having an elite media which prote

creating jobs in the short term. obama has made it clear he would like to do more stimulus spending. repu republicans aren't open to that. they control half of -- control the house and democrats control the senate. it remains to be seen what will happen. the deficit is a problem and needs to be dealt with. it is not going to progress the way it is raised. >> for the fourth quarter he slufrpgs in terms of growth. now is the worst possible time to cut spending even further. the economists look at this slijage and say it was due in large parts of federal spending being cut. what is the con sefb tive answer -- conservative answer to that? >> we spent nearly a trillion dollars in the initial stimulus bill in january or february 2009. we have spent hundreds of billions more over the next 3 and a half years to try to stimulate the economy. we have gotten sadly used to this new normal between the gdp of 1 and say 2 percent. that is the status in the united states of america. we have the worst u.s. recovery ever on record in this president. economics is a straight forward signs. you look over the

opposed every growth initiative and job creation initiative the president put forward. >> mr. obama issued a number of executive orders. >> bret: consumer spending slowed in desplat pite holiday season. income surged by 2.6%. the dow is down for second day in a row, falling 50 points. the s&p 500 dropped four. the nasdaq was off a fraction. senate signed off on pushing the debt limit deadline to may. senators prove the house bill that also includes provision some insiders are calling a bad idea whose time has come. chief political correspondent tells us more. >> they approved the house back no, budget no, pay bill with the current debt ceiling of $64 trillion in mid-may when it is estimated to be $50 million more. the house and senate have to pass budget by mid-april or member paychecks will be held. >> the united states could default on the obligation every few months. not an ideal way to run a government. a short-term solution is better than another imminent manufacturered crisis. >> house republicans passed budget in the obama era and created the salary threat so senate democrats

citizens united based on where people were. but president obama's remarks three years ago are so true to this day. >> last week the supreme court reversed a century of law that i believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections. >> to spend without limit in our elections. let's bring in msnbc political analyst and bloomberg view columnist jonathan alter. great to have you with us tonight. it's a new age of politics. it's all about the money. the democrats are in this game, but we know many of them, it turns their stomach to do it. is it a must? >> it is, unfortunately. it's a necessary evil. otherwise, you're fighting with one hand tied behind your back. now, the thing to understand is that taking back the house for the democrats is not likely to happen in 2014 because of the way these congressional districts have been drawn. >> isn't that amazing? that's just amazing to think about that. >> you have to take a state like pennsylvania, which is a blue state. went for obama both times. they have 13 republican co

middle of may. senate democrats say they will pass the bill soon and the white house says president obama will not veto it. the debt ceiling is the limit on how much the feds can borrow. republican leaders were refusing to raise it without an equal amount of spending cuts. but the bill they just passed has a new ultimatum for the house and the senate. no budget, no pay. carl cameron in the d.c. newsroom tonight. how is this supposed to break the gridlock? >> hey, shep. it's basically a two-part deal. the first says by april 15th, both the house and the senate each have to pass a budget that balances in 10 years. should either chamber fail then its members paychecks can't be delayed. they can't stop it constitutionally they have to get paid. the other part suspends enforcement of the federal debt limit until may 19th, at which point it will increase retroactively without any offset in spending cuts. here is how speaker john boehner summed it up today. >> you know, the premise here is pretty simple. it says that there should be no long-term increase in the debt limit until there is a long-t

"new york times" front banner headlights, obama's clinton role agenda calling it liberal. >> the president wants to be a transformational president not by moving to the center but by pushing an agenda that involves higher taxes, more spending on social programs and no cuts in entitlements. we have problems with the debt, deficit, and entitlements and unless we take them on we do the country a disservice. >> it is like "i gotcha" and here is the real thing. bigger government and more taxes. what was interesting about the speech, it was so uncompromising in the sense there was no discussion whatever about the economy. i heard nothing about the economy or nothing about debt or the fact this country is going broke, it was about expanding government. as doug said, it, in an effort to move left, the reality of the times is going to fit in but he has made his hard play. that is what it was. >>gregg: americans want the deficit to be addressed but without medicare cuts. look at that poll, 58 percent, no cuts. what tour make of this? >> and 89 percent of the people do not want to change an

this detail which they didn't know. >> it is just the beginning there elements of obama care that have not yet been put into effect. we will spend the next year or two or five or ten allergic what's in this massive piece of legislation. it's going to be like christmas. >> go to ff weekend on twitter and let us know how you feel he about that story. also this story. remember this teacher down in south carolina? he in his classroom there in an effort to show how incredible freedom in this country is, and freedom of speech, ripped an american flag off of the wall in one ever american classments on three different occasions and stomped on it to show his class, he says is an educational exercise that this is freedom of speech. this is why america is free because we are able to express ourselves in this way without being thrown in prison. he was fired for that. now he wants his job back. >> it sounds like, i mean, well, let me get the other side. it sounds like first during this lesson he spoke glowingly of the united states and of the freedoms and privileges we have here. is he not kno

said it time and time again -- on taxes. on cutting spending. on saving entitlements. on saving america from this crushing national debt. it grew $6 trillion under barack obama over the past term. and try to avoid some of these other issues. but i hear bobby jindal's new federalism on crack talking about cutting federal employees by three-quarters, et cetera, et cetera. that ain't going to happen. with the changing demographics and where america is and where it's going over the next 20 every 30 years. >> that's the issue. if you separate it, i think the first part not being the stupid party anymore is sort of a no-brainer. why would you go around insulting important interest groups. >> women. >> yeah, the 47%, all that stuff. but then you get to his policy proposals, and i don't think he's in the mainstream of this country when you talk about 25% of the government buildings, cutting employees. you know, every poll, joe, as you know, even of republicans say people want these services. they just don't want to pay as much taxes. they want to have the spending disciplined. but i don't think

represent american national security and keep the peace. and i worry that president obama has picked senator hagel because really the defense department is the only part of the government that he seems to be willing to cut. he's not really interested in reining in spending in almost any other area except national security. he said the sequester, which is the $1.2 trillion in cuts that are scheduled to go in effect, which disproportion athlete affect defense spending, the president said during the campaign, ain't going to happen of the well, it's going to happen. it's going to happen here in about six weeks. >> steve: before you go, something that looks like will happen is it looks like it's bipartisan plan to reform immigration. what do you think? >> i hope so. we'll hear from the president this week, but it really requires presidential leadership, like so many of these issues, because it's easy for people to sort of get off in their corner and argue their particular agenda. but it's hard to come together on big complex -- >> steve: so it's up to the president? >> it's up to all of u